About my work
My understanding of art practice is largely supported through
the experiences I had as a social worker.
Social work requires the navigation of complex institutional
and familial hierarchies and at times, working outside of them. Each intervention
holds a unique set of circumstances which in turn presents an all-pervading
risk of collapse.
In dealing with sculpture I co-opt referents from institutional
and domestic environments that reflect the “make-do” and ritualized relationships
we engage in every day. “Make do” describes a simple act, accommodation
or belief that allows us to negotiate our experiences within the immanent
present. Sponges, the cardboard box, signage and the like, elegant and
abject, my sculptures embody the quotidian struggle of living. Examples
of these would include the empty thank you, and religious iconography.
In using such referents my objects instill the viewer with
a sense of familiarity and dislocation. The traditional use of the referent
is emptied out, prioritizing a vacancy of definition and creating for
the viewer a contingent opening with the opportunity for ad hoc interpretation.
My work is not a critique but rather a distillation from observation and
personal experience. I want to both investigate and present how we navigate,
sustain and at times re-evaluate the dissonant circumstances we confront
every day.
|